Last 4 Miners Found Dead

Dashing hopes that they had survived the massive explosion that killed 25 of their colleagues, four coal miners were found dead early this morning in a mine in Montcoal, W. Va., making Monday's incident the worst coal-mining disaster in over a generation. The head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said the next steps are recovering the bodies and investigating the blast, the Charleston Gazette reports. "I can assure you that no stone will be left unturned," said Kevin Stricklin.

"It is infuriating that in this day and age, and in this country, that such a disaster could still happen," Sen. Robert Byrd said Friday, while the rescue effort was still under way. "I am sick. I am saddened, and I am angry." The explosion, in Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine, caused the greatest loss of life since an incident in a Kentucky coal mine in 1970 killed 38.
(More coal mine stories.)